Lost in translation

[Note: This item also appears in the Lindependence 2008: Felton Diary blog.]

I got into journalism for a reason: My math skills are not exactly stellar.

In my last blog item — and picked up in a blog item written by Katherine Noyes of Linux Insider — I said that in October, 100 towns in Italy were going to do a Lindependence-type project. Actually, according to the Linux Day 2008 site (reading Italian helps here, but not necessary), I was off by . . . um . . . 79 towns. They’re actually up to 21, so far.

In my defense, the 100 number came from a conversation with a Fedora ambassador from Europe, and possibly something was lost in translation. Naturally, I should have checked it out before going public with it, but I found the fellow from whom I got this information trustworthy. But still, the fault is mine for misleading you all, and I apologize.

Regardless: even though it’s not in triple digits, 21 is still a pretty good number of towns in Italy taking the plunge, and we’re behind them.

Meanwhile, back in Felton, Felton LUG is starting to get going, establishing the first Saturday of the month as the regular meeting date and finding a regular meeting place (the fire station). The seeds that have been sown here are being cultivated and we expect them to bear fruit. If you’re in Felton and are interested in attending/participating/contributing, drop me an e-mail at lcafiero-at-fixedbylinux-dot-com.

(Fedora ambassador Larry Cafiero runs HeliOS Solutions West in Felton, California, and is an associate member of the Free Software Foundation.)